LUCKNOW, July 2 -- There is a buzz over the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party's new Uttar Pradesh unit chief again after a delay of several months. The ruling party has set the ball rolling for the election of its new state president with the election of new presidents in several states. The tenure of the incumbent UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary ended earlier this year. However, the election was postponed as the party's central leadership was busy with the Delhi assembly poll. The election of new party chief will just be a formality as only the candidate finalised by the party high command for the top post will file the nomination paper. Keeping in mind the Samajwadi Party's Pichda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (PDA) formulation, the new UP BJP chief is most likely to be from the Schedule Caste (SC) category. Prominent names currently doing the rounds are Vidya Sagar Sonkar and Ram Shankar Katheria from the SC category. While, from the OBC category Swatantra Dev Singh, Babu Ram Nishad and Dharampal Singh, who is minister in the state government, are also among the probables. According to a senior BJP leader, if the party prefers an OBC leader for the top post, Swatantra Dev Singh is the frontrunner. The BJP's central leadership has initiated the proceedings to complete the election process of state presidents of various states. Thereafter, the BJP will appoint its new national president. According to the BJP's constitution, the party's national president could only be elected after completing the election process of 50 percent of its state units. The term of BJP's incumbent national president JP Nadda ended in January last year, but the national executive committee in January 2024 extended his term till June 2025 in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "The new state president is most likely to be from the SC category and the second option will be the OBC category," said a senior BJP leader. "The new state president will be elected keeping in view the 2027 assembly polls in the state," he added. The party is going all out to regain lost ground after its below par showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh. This was primarily due to shifting of OBC and Dalit votes to the Samajwadi Party's PDA formulation. In four successive poll victories in Uttar Pradesh-2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha and 2017, 2022 assembly polls- the BJP managed the most diverse representation minus Muslims by keeping its caste umbrella intact- broadly non-Jatav Dalits, non-Yadav OBCs and upper castes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, the SP's PDA formulation succeeded in bringing a large chunk of OBC and Dalits into its fold, giving a formidable blow to the BJP. The BJP's tally in Uttar Pradesh came down to 33 in the last Lok Sabha election from 62 in 2019. Meanwhile, VP Ramalingam and K Beichhua were elected state unit BJP presidents in Puducherry and Mizoram respectively on Monday. One leader each in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh also filed their nomination for the election as is prescribed by the party's constitution. So far, new appointments have been made in 19 states, while the process is yet to begin in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh....